Show me the money, and which banks got it

The Treasury Department has made the first payments from the $700-billion bailout fund, a total of $125-billion in stock purchases from nine major financial institutions. The money is intended to inject fresh capital into the nation's banks as a way to encourage them to resume more normal lending. A Treasury report shows that the biggest payments, $25-billion apiece, went to Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo (which we will soon get to know better upon completing its takeover of Wachovia). Also familiar to Floridian eyes are such participating institutions as SunTrust, Regions, Capital One and Fifth Third, among others.

Here's a list (and more details available here) of the banks, so far, that are part of the bailout distribution program. Note some get billions, and others millions, depending mostly on size:

According to an AP story, Treasury officials informed representatives of non-publicly traded banks, a group that covers about 6,000 of the nation's 8,500 banks, that they will also be able to participate in the program. Officials said they are moving to modify the contracts so that institutions without publicly traded stock would be able to submit applications.

The government also is being petitioned by a number of other industries, from auto companies to insurance firms, in a bid to get a part of the $700 billion bailout package. Here's my lighter-side take on the growing line of industries clamoring for a piece of the bailout.

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Tampa Bay business news and insights are brought to you each day by business columnist Robert Trigaux and his fellow business writers. Venture provides an inside look at Tampa Bay companies as well as events, people, deal, triumphs and failures across the Tampa Bay economy.